THIS INVENTION relates to a hinge mechanism applicable to angularly movable wings such as a foldaway ironing board assembly and to assemblies employing the hinge mechanism such as a foldaway ironing board assembly mounted to a support structure such as a wall, kitchen unit, cupboard bench support, mobile cabinet or drawer.
Many different mechanisms are employed in establishing items such as foldaway ironing board assemblies which save space and offer advantages over more conventional portable ironing boards which are supported from the ground by scissor action legs. These conventional portable ironing boards are not always easy to erect and stow and they are therefore considered inconvenient. In contrast foldaway ironing board assemblies mounted to a support structure are usually more convenient than portable ironing boards. They can be easier to move from a stored position to an operative position depending on the nature of the mechanism by which they are mounted.
When in a stored position the above foldaway ironing board assemblies are located against, for example, a wall in which the longitudinal axis of the board is positioned vertically. When moved between the stored and an operative position the longitudinal axis pivots about a vertical axis and therefore the length of the ironing board protrudes out into a room. This therefore limits the type of room such foldaway ironing boards can be practically used in. Furthermore, the protruding tapered end of the ironing board is substantially unsupported and excessive pressure on this end may damage supporting struts extending from the wall to the underside of the ironing board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,369,898 (Sorensen) is a wall mounted board, pivoted down from a vertical storage position to a working disposition whereat the board rests on a bracket acting against further downward angular movement.
GB 2271360 (Burke) is a similar board to that of Sorensen above, mounted inside a cabinet with a height adjustment. These styles are hinged at their end and extend outwardly perpendicularly from the wall behind them.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,388 (Simpson) provides its board on a mechanism which pivots and rotates out of its storage position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,556 (Wilson et al) provides its board with a mechanism for swivelling the board between two horizontal positions at different heights on a turntable mounting locked by a ratchet.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanism for pivoting a member which mechanism shifts the centre of angular movement of the member off the support to the member enabling more compact structures.
It is a further object of the invention to enable the pivoting of wings out of storage compartments which are more compact than has hitherto for been possible.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an ironing board able to be folded out of a compact storage space into a working disposition.
The invention achieves its object in the provision of a mounting assembly for a member by which the member is angularly movable from a storage position to a working position comprising:
a first link adapted for pivotal mounting to a support at a first end and said member at a second end;
a second link adapted for pivotal mounting to the support at a first end and at a point thereat below the connection point of the first link and said member at a second end;
said second link being abutted, in use, at the working position of the member against a stop means or limit means on said first link to prevent angular movement of the member past the working position.
In a particular variation of the mounting assembly it is associated with an intermediate pivotal plate interconnected with the links and the member via a slotted plate introducing an extra degree of relative angular movement of the member.
Advantageously two of the above defined mounting assemblies are used to mount on angularly movable wing to a supporting surface enabling the wing to move between a storage and working position. The wing may support an angularly movable planar element thereover providing a working surface at the working position. Ideally the planar element might be in two hinged parts able to be folded together to reduce their area in a storage means.
Ideally the above described angularly movable wing is an ironing board. The board may be stored vertically and lowered angularly to a horizontal disposition. The board may be stored vertically on the side of a linearly translatable frame, being raised thereover to its working position. The board may be stored collapsed into a flat pack in a drawer unit, able to be drawn therefrom and extended horizontally outwardly. By these means the board may be mounted into a wall cabinet, which can be vertically adjustable; a cupboard from which the board can be drawn and then rotated upwardly; or located in a drawer unit of a cabinet, cupboard, or the like.